This invention relates to modified dietary fiber products and processes for producing the same. More particularly, this invention relates to modified dietary fiber products such as bulk laxatives which are readily and easily dispersible in water and other liquids.
Dietary fibers such as psyllium powder, bran, cellulose derivatives such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, malt extract, wheat germ and the like have long been used as dietary supplements. These materials generally are relatively fine powders or particles which resist wetting due to their very dry nature. The most important of these dietary fibers materials are psyllium and bran. Psyllium powder may be derived from the ground husks of the seeds of plantago ovata, plantago psyllium or plantago indica. The laxative properties to this material are due to its hydrophillic properties and to its mucilaginous character when wetted. Bran has similar characteristics.
Historically, dry bulk laxative composition contain bulking agents such as psyllium powder and a large percentage of sugar, usually dextrose, as a dispersing agent. Some flavored bulk laxatives contain as much as 70% sugar. These dietary fiber compositions are added to water by the user to produce a dispersion of the powder. The powder picks up the moisture from this dispersion to become mucilaginous. However, even after vigorous agitation, a substantial amount of time is required for complete dispersal and miscibility of the bulking agent and the sugar in an aqueous system.
Many attempts have been made to overcome the dispersal problems of dry dietary fiber products such as bulk laxatives, specifically those including psyllium. One method of improving the dispersibility of psyllium powder is by using a psyllium having a wide range of particle sizes. It has been suggested that the different particle sizes are more dispersible than a product having a uniform particle size which is normally sold to produce formulators. However, these materials are not sufficiently more dispersible than standard substantially uniform particle size psyllium preparations.
A second method of improving the dispersibility of psyllium is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,263. This patent discloses coating or granulating the psyllium with polyvinylpyrrolidone as a granulating agent and polyethylene glycol as a dispersing agent. As disclosed in this patent, the polyvinylpyrrolidone also functions to reduce the friability of the resulting psyllium granules.
Still other attempts to improve the dispersibility of bulk fibers, specifically psyllium, are known which utilize an effervescent sugar-psyllium mixture to achieve the dispersal of the psyllium by the physical action of the carbon dioxide released when the product is added to water. These products, however, often contain high quantities of sodium ions as well as sugar and therefore cannot be safely used by patients whose intake of sugar or sodium is restricted.